After 40 years, the world's women are far more educated

A new study shows that women have doubled their years in the classroom, to an average of 7.1 the world over. That has profound economic and societal benefits, and has contributed to a big drop in child mortality.

September 16, 2010

By the Monitor's Editorial Board

Over the past 40 years, women around the world have moved ahead in formal education, doubling their average number of years in the classroom.

That’s a profound development, with positive effects in personal and public well-being.

The education progress is reported in an unusually large-scale study of 175 countries that looked at the connection between women’s schooling and reduced child mortality.

Half of the drop is because women of a reproductive age are better educated. That helps mothers make better choices about personal hygiene, nutrition, and parenting. The study appears in the Sept. 18 issue of The Lancet.

What the research shows about education itself is also encouraging. Both women and men are getting more schooling. Four decades ago, women had an average 3.5 years in school. Now they have 7.1 years (men have 8.3 years) – a sign that it’s time to concentrate on secondary schooling.

The world has made a concerted effort to get this far. Nonprofit foundations, the women’s movement, governments, United Nations goals on education, democratization, increased prosperity through trade, computer technology – all of these have pushed the education trend line up, especially for women.

By last year, women had greater levels of education than men in 87 countries, including Qatar, Malaysia, and the Philippines. For the first time, more women than men in the United States are receiving doctoral degrees, according to a separate report. But in 40 countries, the gender education gap is larger than in 1970, including in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The world needs to continue these upward trends in education. But it’s more than years of schooling that count. What is taught, how it’s taught, and how learning is measured are also important. That’s not just a debate for the US, but for the world.